<p>‘In this groundbreaking study, Stephen Jones brings to light the service of Daoist rites among common people in northern China and compares them with what until now have been far better researched Daoist ritual performances in southern China. From his extensive fieldwork, he provides convincing evidence that distinctive Daoist ritual traditions are deeply embedded in rural northern China.’</p><p>Stephan Feuchtwang, London School of Economics, UK</p><p>‘Stephen Jones' twenty years of fieldwork with Daoists and musicians in north China come to full blossom with this superb book. Its comparative project is admirably ambitious, looking at key rituals done very differently across an area as wide as Europe; yet the writing always remains lively, witty and focused on actual people and performance rather than theories.’ </p><p>Vincent Goossaert, CNRS, author of The Taoists of Peking</p><p>‘This book is an invaluable work of ethnography, and a landmark accomplishment in the study of Chinese religion. The author comes to the topic with a background of field experience that is virtually unmatched. Beyond this, Jones is deeply versed in Anglophone literature, but also engages a vast amount of Chinese scholarship. The book itself is more encyclopedic than narrative. It is exceedingly well indexed, and will be irreplaceable as a work of reference...I would place this book on a par with the great ethnographic studies of the 1930s and 1940s. Like them, I expect that it will remain unsurpassed for many years to come.’</p><p>China Quarterly</p><p>‘… anyone who works on Chinese folk beliefs should appreciate the author’s excellent work in providing valuable fieldwork data, in synthesizing the studies on the subject, and in establishing the focus on the performances of folk ritual specialists in North China.’ </p><p>Journal of Folk Research</p><p>‘One of the most thorough and careful studies of the decade, this well-written, carefully researched, and highly entertaining study of what the author calls "folk Daoists of North China," is a must-read for all sinologists, ethnomusicologists, and Daoist aficionados. Begun in the 1980s and covering more than twenty years of work in the field, Stephen Jones’s study is a first of its kind, approaching the well-kept secret of Daoist liturgy, festive as well as funerary, in North China, from the viewpoint of a classical musicologist.’</p><p>China Review International</p><p>‘… the most original aspect of Jones’ work within the nascent field of north China religion is his sensitivity […] to modern and contemporary change in ritual practice. The huge spatial variations he observes and documents […] he does not ascribe to village autarky, but rather to two factors: 1) different regional systems, and 2) very different rates of liturgical loss from one village to the next. He documents how specific rituals became gradually simplified and streamlined throughout the twentieth century […], a process that continues abated. He thus addresses the crucial, but risky question of contemporary change under both political and socio-cultural constraints a question that most scholars tend to avoid.’</p><p>Journal of Chinese Religion</p><p>‘Folk Daoist rituals have structured part of the history of these areas and continue to play a great part in farmers’ lives on the Hebei plain. Jones’s book very effectively illustrates and supports this fact. As the author states in his conclusion, "It’s Daoism, but not as we know it". The book indeed may be used as a very good introduction to folk rituals in northern China.’</p><p>Asian Music</p>